The Lion King

Reviewer: Alyice Edrich

The Cartoon

The Plot

A young lion cub is betrayed by his Uncle and left fatherless. After he's grown he discovers the truth about his father's death and takes action to right all wrongs caused by his Uncle.

Starring

Matthew Broderick, Moira Kelly, Nathan Lane, Ernie Sabella, James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Whoopi Goldberg, and more.

The Review

After watching The Lion King, the Diamond Edition, I can see why it has been one of the highest grossing films in Disney history. It's an amazing story of betrayal, forgiveness, and redemption.

The story starts out with Rafiki, the wise mandrill, presenting Simba, the lion prince, to the animals of Pride Rock; while Mufasa, the lion king, watches with great pride. After the presentation ceremony is over, Mufasa confronts his brother, Scar, about his absence.

As the story progresses, we see just how jealous and envious of Mufasa and Simba, Scar really is. And it isn't long before we see just how devious and evil he can be. When Scar's attempt at ridding the world of Simba fails, he resorts to killing Mufasa instead, then convincing Simba that it's all his fault.

Devasted over the loss of his father, and filled with guilt over having caused his death, Simba flees his homeland.

Exhausted, and near death, Simba is rescued by a meerkat named, Timon, and a warthog named, Pumbaa, and nursed back to health. Grief stricken, Simba wants to give up on life but his new friends won't allow it and set out to teach him their life motto, "Hakuna Matata"; which means "no worries".

As time progresses, Simba learns to be happy again, but refuses to return to his homeland. That is, until his friends are nearly eaten by a lioness who turns out to be Simba's childhood friend, Nala.

Nala informs Simba that his home is in ruins thanks to Scar's leadership and asks Simba to return as the one true king. But Simba refuses. He is too ashamed to return to his homeland, and wanders off on his own where he receives a vision of his father, Mufasa.

In the vision, Mufasa reminds Simba of his true purpose and encourages him to return to Pride Rock. But when Simba returns to Pride Rock and sees just how massive the devastation is, his confidence suffers; allowing Scar to back him in a corner and nearly kill him.

Just as Scar is about to end Simba's life, however, Scar reveals that he was the one who killed Mufasa. Outraged, Simba finds the courage to fight back and cause Scar to reveal the truth about Mufasa's demise. At which time, a war pursues between the lionesses and Scar's army of hyena's.

When Scar is defeated, the hyena's turn on him, kill him, and return to their own homeland… the wasteland.

With Scar gone, the lionesses embrace Simba as their new king and Pride Rock is slowly restored to its former glory.

The story ends with Rafiki presenting the new lion prince to the land, the son of Nala and Simba.

Your Task

As you watch The Lion King with your children, take notes regarding areas of concern: like the fact that Scar framed Simba for murder, the fact that Simba continued to defy his father, the fact that Simba ran away after his father died instead of facing the consequences of his actions, and the fact that Simba made some bad choices because of the guilt he felt over his father's death. Then when the film is over, talk to your children about these areas of concern. Ask your children how they would handle these issues, then share your personal thoughts and insights.